Cosmic
by ChairThief
Summary: "Wow!" He yelled. Eyes wide with wonder, with disbelief, the few split seconds in which he was able to catch a glimpse of the thing seemed to pass in slow motion. It couldn't be. It couldn't be.. But it was. (AU; In which Zim is an Irken scout on a reconnaissance mission; And Dib is a young adult with a comparatively normal life.)
1. Night Out

Dib liked to think of himself as a normal 16 year old kid. And to most extents, he was; he went to Hi Skool, got good grades, tutored Elementry Skool kids in science and mathematics and had a moderately active social life. He wasn't top of the social ladder or anything but he wasn't at the bottom of the heap anymore either. And while he might not admit it, he actually enjoyed his new level of social acceptance, even if that meant throwing in the towel on paranormal studies. Or at least for the most part; he did still engage in online chats and forums, but that was a bit of information he preferred to keep to himself these days.  
By his dad's prompting to take up studies in "real" science, Dib had chosen astronomy and found himself really enjoying it. The study of stars, constellations and other planets quickly became his favourite pastime, and unlike paranormal studies it didn't garner negative attention or leave him prone to outbursts of frustration when no one believed him.  
And so it was that night that Dib prepared to leave the house and go stargazing, as he had almost every weekend for the past four or five years. Bounding down the stairs, two at a time, he leaped into the kitchen, skidding across the floor and trotting out into the living room where his sister, Gaz, was seated on the couch. Absorbed in her videogames like normal, she disregarded his presence, though she was quite aware of him.

"Alright Gaz, I'm out! I'll be gone until maybe eleven thirty. You got my number?" He asked but already Gaz was holding up a little slip of paper. "Okay, you got dad's number?"

"Yep."

"You know where I'm going to be?"

"Lookout."

"You hungry?"

"Yep." Gaz held up her hand again, empty this time. She knew the drill by heart.

"Okay, here's twenty bucks for pizza, make sure to lock the door and call me if you need anything." Dib walked over, digging around in his pocket and producing the promised money. Gaz snatched it without ever looking away from her game, but Dib didn't mind, simply making his way to the garage where his car and his telescope waited for him. The Memebrane house was home to a pretty high tech telescope positioned in the backyard, but there was something more fun about going out of town where the lights didn't impede, where you could see just as much with a regular telescope as you could with a high tech one in the city. Something more up close and personal about being out of the noise and activity.  
Quickly but carefully he tucked his telescope into the car and hopped into the driver's seat, heading out through town under the flickering light of lampposts and the glow of the rising moon.  
The lookout was about ten miles out of town, a little over thirteen minutes' worth of a drive. It wasn't really anything all that special, just a little cleared picnic area on a mountain terrace surrounded by a wooden fence and a gravelly parking lot. Sometimes teenagers liked to go up there to fool around, and Dib did his best to avoid them when they did. But tonight, it was quiet. Perfectly lonesome, perfectly quiet, and perfectly clear. The sky had been a little cloudy earlier, they'd had a bit of rain, but it had cleared up beautifully a few hours before sunset and now the stars seemed brighter than ever. Dib exited his car, dragging his telescope out and setting it up on a smooth spot in the pavement so it wouldn't wobble and throw him off. Dib immediately went to work, seeking out constellations he knew the names of and noting their positions. Circinus, Bootes, Lupus..  
It was then that Dib heard a strange whining noise. A very faint shrill, like that of a firework zipping into the air, but he could see nothing in the clear sky through his telescope as he panned it across the view he had from the hill. No fireworks, no meteors. He pulled back from his telescope, adjusting his glasses and deciding that it must just be some idiot in the suburbs doing something stupid, as per usual. He was about to go back to stargazing, but paused, narrowing his eyes as the sound grew louder. His skin crawled as he noticed a dim but very rapidly brightening light reflected in the eye of his telescope, and he whirled around just in time for his world to be engulfed in a blinding light as something shot over the canopy of the forest where it continued behind the parking lot. It blasted over him with a terrific hot gush of wind and smoke, bowling both him and his telescope over onto the pavement. He hit the ground hard, hands splaying to catch himself as he went down on his knees, though they slipped on the gravel and he ended up on his elbows instead as he attempted to prevent knocking his head against the fence. The noise as the huge projectile careened over the prostrate boy was intense, pounding in his ears but, so overcome by surprise, he didn't even think to cover them.  
Immediately scrambling to his feet with no care for his badly scraped elbows and knees, he practically threw himself over the wooden fence separating the top of the hill from the parking lot.

"Wow!" He yelled. Eyes wide with wonder, with disbelief, the few split seconds in which he was able to catch a glimpse of the thing seemed to pass in slow motion. It couldn't be. It couldn't be..  
But it was.  
His thoughts were interrupted as what Dib had perceived to be an alien spacecraft came down in a heavy arc, disappearing into the trees with multiple thuds before there was finally an earth shattering crash; shattering glass, groaning metal, the forest lighting up briefly as if a light switch had been flipped on before it faded to blackness again. Utter silence fell like a heavy blanket. Dib was frozen, yet shaking, sweating, but cold, knuckles white as he gripped the fence, feeling as if he might float away without it.  
And he had the biggest grin on his face. With hardly a moment's pause, he half ran half skidded down the hill, the grass slapping his bare legs, leaving little itchy cuts in its wake, but that was about as far from his concern as his broken telescope was right now, which lay all but forgotten.  
The forest lay stretched out in front of him, dark and foreboding, but he charged into it anyway, following the hiss and crackle of what sounded like broken machinery. A dim pink light flickering in the near distance reassured him of his direction and he followed it blindly, pushing through underbrush and leaping over logs as only a lanky sixteen year old can. Heavily grazed trees and scattered pieces of broken machinery began to mark the trail, the ground still hot from where the craft had skidded. When he finally reached the wreck, he stopped dead in his tracks, drawing in a sharp breath. This was definitely alien in design. This thing, this ship was.. Eons ahead of anything humans could produce with their limited knowledge. Carefully he approached the thing; it was a huge mess, but Dib could easily see that it must have looked stunning before- characterized by rounded shapes and a mixture of muted purples and magentas. The back of the craft had been smashed open upon impact, and as Dib came closer he could see inside. An unknown language flashed across still- operational monitors, bright pink warning lights waning and waxing in the cockpit.  
Dib held his breath as he stepped into the thing through the gaping hole; not only because he was in high anticipation but also because he wasn't sure if there were any gas leaks that might be damaging to him. Fully inside the back-storage area of the craft, he took a closer look at the screens. That was definitely no human writing, and the control panels were very strange in makeup, consisting not of the familiar layout of buttons but of touch screens. Hardly two steps into the craft and he was already thoroughly impressed- he'd dreamt about this for so long and he wasn't disappointed with what he saw. However, a small tap from the cockpit redirected his attention. A tiny, gloved hand had slipped down from the large singular chair that separated the two points of entry to the main control area. It hung limp, dripping with a bright, blue-green substance that Dib was afraid to find out the origin of. If the ship was in this bad of shape.. Slowly he crept forward, trying to be as silent as possible, and peered around the chair. He felt a wonderful chill sweep through his body.  
A tiny little green creature sat there, clearly incapacitated. Slumped limply with its antennae pushed up against the backrest of the seat, one of its arms hung off the edge of the chair, its little legs sprawled out. It was wearing a simple yet pointedly elegant outfit of a segmented magenta tunic with a high pink collar and sleeves; leggings, knee high boots and elbow length gloves, all black, and all made of a strange fabric the likes of which Dib had never seen. Dib couldn't believe his eyes; from the moment he saw the incredible little creature, he was completely enamoured with it. It was just so strange, so unconventionally pretty.. And obviously injured. Kneeling down on the heated floor, his hands hovered around the little creature, unsure if he should touch it, unsure if it was even still alive. His suspicions of the blue green fluid had been correct. It was blood. And the little creature was smattered with it. Dark welts had formed around deep cuts, bruises marring its swiftly paling green skin. Dib's heart wrenched at the thought of the beautiful extraterrestrial visitor dying, scared and alone in the broken cockpit of a crashed ship on a strange planet. He wasn't sure what to do- how to help, or even how to check vital signs. He gasped when the alien's antennae twitched, a groan issuing from its throat, almost a gurgle.  
Immediately a rush of white hot adrenaline surged through Dib. It was alive! The alien was still alive! And it needed help. Overcoming his trepidation he took off his jacket and reached out to ever so carefully scoop the tiny being into his arms. It was so small, so fragile feeling in his grasp.. This seemed to provoke something in him. His whole body trembled with energy- he felt like he could run miles at breakneck speed, and he would, if that's what it would take to rescue the dying extraterrestrial. Wrapping his jacket around the little body with more care than he could ever remember taking with anything, he then shifted it to one arm while he hastily ripped off a strip from his shirt. Most of the blood seemed to be leaking from a large cut on the alien's forehead. Gingerly he used the strip of cloth from his shirt to bandage the wound, tying it off tightly and carefully standing in a hunched position. The craft was a bit small to fit him at his full height, so he assumed that perhaps this alien wasn't just young and the rest of its race must be small as well.  
Dib, satisfied with his handiwork and finding nothing else in the craft worth stalling for, turned to leave... Only to pause and turn right back around as a deep, monotone voice in an unfamiliar language began emanating from the computer's speakers.

"S'nvuk'k ksvilarsch'n'iglich t'veen. Avuk'k' skava'anahkan't'k." Dib had no idea what that meant but he didn't like the sudden spinning symbol on the screen. With smaller symbols in the middle that changed as the seconds passed, he found it far too reminiscent of a self destruct sequence for comfort and quickly turned, vaulting out of the heated interior of the ship and into the cool night air. Whatever the clock was counting down to, he wanted to put some distance between himself and it before it was finished. Holding his precious bundle close to his chest, shielding it from the scratchy undergrowth as he pushed through to the edge of the forest, he had only broken clear of the tree-line when there was an enourmous crash behind him, lights going off everywhere as flame and smoke engulfed everything behind him. Shrapnel from the explosion whirred past him and he fell to his knees in the grass, bent over the little creature in his arms protectively. There was a sharp pain as something clipped his ear and he felt a warm wetness begin to drip down onto his neck. When the explosion subsided, Dib opened his eyes, glad he had decided to vacate the area, and even more glad that he'd brought the now-obliterated ship's unconscious pilot with him.

"That.. Was close.." He cast a glance over his shoulder at the smoke rising from the trees and cautiously shifted the little bundle in his arms. Regaining his footing, he managed to make it up the hill in mere moments- it was a little steep but the ground was soft and allowed him to scale it without trouble. Pulse thudding in his ears as he stumbled to his car, Dib frantically gripped the handle to the back door with a shaking hand. Crawling halfway in, he gingerly laid the little person down on the back seat, gently buckling it in. The seatbelt would have been a bit too loose, but the bulk of Dib's jacket helped secure the alien. Dib then pulled back, shutting the car door and trotting around to crawl over the hood of the car to get in the driver's seat.  
He knew they had to get out of here quick. If the crash itself hadn't garnered attention, that explosion certainly would. It wouldn't be long before the authorities came; and what of the alien then? What if they found it? He paused for a moment, sitting in the front seat, hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. A glance at the rearview mirror gave him a view of the unconscious little person, huddled in his jacket. Seeing the strange and wonderful crash-landed visitor reaffirmed his resolve and he yanked his car keys out of his pocket, jamming it into the ignition and starting the car; he couldn't let /anyone/ know about the alien. He knew that other humans couldn't be trusted with something this special. Humans could rarely be trusted with anything special.. But who better to greet, even to /rescue/ the first extraterrestrial visitor of the era than Dib Membrane? All his childhood had been dedicated to studying the paranormal, the strange, the otherworldly. He was ready, no, destined for this encounter. It must have been fate. It had to have been.  
Filled with a sense of purpose, he pulled quickly out of the parking lot, gasping when he saw the flashing lights of police vehicles coming up the slope far below. He couldn't go that way- they would definitely stop him to ask if he knew what had happened, and they would definitely see his precious cargo in the backseat.

"Sh-shit.. Shit.." He swore under his breath, turning off his headlights and reversing into the parking lot again before turning the other way. He'd have to take the long way back down to the city. In the dark. His headlights would give him away like a match in a dark room.  
Going along at a crawl, he managed to get some distance from the parking lot, feeling uncomfortably like a fugitive. The darkness was almost so thick it seemed tangible, and he prayed no one else was coming up this way, unlikely as it was. With a black car and headlights off, there was no way they would see him and he would rather not get in an accident.. Right now for more reasons than the usual. He tried to keep his gaze solely on the road, trying to concentrate on one thing at a time to keep from getting overwhelmed, but his line of vision kept flicking up to the rearview mirror anyway, making sure no police were headed in his direction. It seemed like hours before he finally made it onto the main road heading back into town, and he flicked on his headlights, speeding up to a normal pace. Normal. Yes, everything was normal, or at least if he pretended it was it would be easier to act like it was.

"Just.. Have to get back to the house. Gaz has pizza and her new game, she'll be preoccupied. Dad's at the lab, won't be back until late.." He glanced at the clock. 10:43. Early enough to have plenty of time and late enough not to be conspicuous, good.  
He drove along in silence for a while before taking a cautious glance up to the rearview mirror. The alien was so pale- paler than it had been when Dib had found it, and the makeshift bandage was getting soaked through. The timid rise and fall of its chest was the only thing that let Dib know it hadn't died, but its breath seemed laboured and he could hear its short panting, laced with a whimper. Dib swallowed thickly, picking up a bit of speed. He prayed for green stoplights, and was gratified. Everything was falling into place, in such a perfect way that Dib knew this was fate. He no longer felt that it was, he /knew/. With these otherworldly thoughts thrumming in his head, the drive through the city seemed like a dream, the interior of his car dark against the city lights outside. The nightlife bustling around him but not actually seeing him, flashing lights and smiling people in showy clothes, self absorbed in their walls of sociability. That was good. He didn't want them to see him.  
He looked up at the rearview mirror again. The alien had gone still, and for a moment a jolt passed through him before he realized it was still breathing. He felt a little weak.

"Don't die.. Oh please don't die." To come into such close contact with a whole other world, only to have it ripped away from him was not something he wanted to bear. The body could always be handed over to science, something he likely would have done if he had found it dead- but finding that the creature was actually alive made the situation much different, and he didn't want to lose it.  
So wrapped up in his jumbled thoughts he almost passed his house, swearing as he turned a little more sharply than he should have into the driveway, and wincing when there was another faint groan from the backseat. Quickly he shut off the car, shoving the key back in his pocket and getting out of the front seat, crossing around to the back. He cast a wary glance around to be sure no one else was out before opening the door and taking up the fragile little bundle into his arms again.  
Swiftly Dib crossed the front yard to the door and opened it with one hand, creeping inside and shutting the door with his foot.

"Hey Gaz, I'm back!" He called, his voice sounding much more stable than he expected it to and he mentally high fived himself as he walked quickly past the living room, into the kitchen. Sure enough, Gaz had ordered pizza. It smelled good, and was probably still warm but Dib figured pizza was of very little importance, even despite the fact that he hadn't eaten all day. He milled around a bit anyway, making some noise as if he were drawing himself a glass of water. He expected Gaz to make some offhanded comment or simply offer a monotone, 'Whatever', but instead she called out something that made his skin prickle.

"You hear about the explosion? It was on TV. Some kind of 'terrorist attack' or something." She drawled, but Dib could still hear the sounds from her game console and knew she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. They often had conversations from across the house, tonight was no different.. Well okay it was a little different. But Gaz didn't need to know that.

"Yeah? Where at?" He asked, glancing down at the creature still wrapped in his jacket. Still, silent, but breathing.

"I guess they found some kind of telescope at the site or whatever. All broken up and stuff." Dib made a little choked noise, but it was too quiet for Gaz to hear. His telescope! He'd forgotten all about it in the excitement, oh his fingerprints were all over that thing. For once he hoped that the law enforcement was either dense or incompetent enough not to find the 'criminal' responsible.

"W-well I hope they figure that mess out." Dib flinched at the stutter. Now Gaz was definitely going to know something was up. And she did. Sitting up a bit when she heard her brother's shaking voice from across the house, she frowned a bit and paused her game, setting it off to the side before walking toward the entrance to the kitchen. A drop of sweat trickled down Dib's forehead as he heard her footsteps coming closer.  
Gaz suddenly peered round the corner, still frowning and looking her brother up and down Sure enough he was standing there by the table with a glass of water. She narrowed her eyes, taking a few steps into the room.

"What happened to you?" She asked, less concerned than suspicious, taking note of his scraped hands and knees, as well as the bloody gash on his ear. The corners of Dib's mouth twitched as if he wasn't sure what to say. Gaz didn't take this as an answer.

"Where have you been, Dib?" She asked, her glare darkening a bit as she crossed the room to stand close to him. Dib backed up a bit as she advanced, feeling the edge of the table press into his lower back, able to go no further. Gaz continued to glare at him silently as he struggled for words.

"I-I was o-out watching the stars, like I said-"

"Don't you dare lie to me Dib." Gaz interrupted immediately and by the look on her brother's face, she knew she'd won. Dib sighed.

"Alright, I was there when it happened but I don't know what actually happened." Lying through his teeth, but he was already nervous so it was hard to tell, thankfully. "I was scared and didn't want to, you know, just up and talk about it. Especially not with you, no offense but you're not exactly the best person to try for a bit of sympathy or understanding." He squirmed a bit under her scrutinizing gaze. "Also I thought we'd already established that I'm weird, like, ten years ago." He felt a bit of relief as Gaz seemed to actually consider this.

"Yeah. You're right. Just go clean yourself up and.. Cry in the bathroom or whatever." She hissed, flipping open the box of pizza and grabbing another slice before marching back to the living room. Dib slumped against the table before practically falling to his knees and crawling over to open the cabinet under the sink. The alien was still there, right where Dib had left it. Gently he picked it back up again, glancing over his shoulder to be sure Gaz wasn't coming back, then scurrying across the kitchen and up the stairs to his room. After shutting the door and making sure the window was closed and the blinds were drawn, he laid the little creature down on his bed. He was glad he kept his room a decent degree of clean, or this might have been a lot more difficult than it needed to be. Carefully Dib unwrapped the jacket from around the little creature.  
For the second time, he could hardly believe how small it was- standing at full height with its black antennae up at attention it would have hardly reached his knees. Exhaling, he stood there quietly for a little while, knowing there was something he had to do but he wasn't sure if he could. Finally he sucked in a breath and reached out, hooking his thumbs on the hem of the creature's pink shirt and pulling it up. Beneath was a black bodysuit with a zipper down the front, and he undid that as well, exposing the green skin beneath. He tried to ward off the feeling that this was way too personal, replacing it with the resolve that he needed to be sure there were no more big cuts or gashes in what he assumed to be a vital area. Most creatures had their most important organs in the head and torso, and since this creature was so human-like in shape, he decided it might be safe to assume the same for its species. His hands were cold, and he jammed them in his armpits for a minute before reaching out to run them along the alien's middlesection, prying the bodysuit apart a bit more to feel at the back as well. Its skin was warm and soft, but so very pale. Aside from that, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, as far as he could tell, so he quickly zipped the bodysuit back up and pulled the shirt down. His face was hot with a flush of embarassment and he mentally slapped himself to derail any train of thought going in an uncomfortable direction.

"This is no time to get all cagey about personal space, Dib." He hissed to himself before turning to run out of his room and down the hall to the bathroom, practically tripping over himself in his haste. The bathroom light was harsh, blinding even after the dimness of his own room, and he groped around in the cabinets clumsily, grabbing all the first aid supplies he could get his hands on. Gauze, cotton swabs, rubbing alcohol which he wasn't sure if he should use or not, maybe that was more for himself than the alien.  
When he was pleased with the supplies he'd scrounged together he crept back down to his own room, laying them out on the bottom half of his bed. The strip of his shirt which he'd used to bandage the wound on the alien's forehead had soaked through with blood, and needed to be replaced. When he removed it he found that it was already scabbing over- it was an ugly wound and didn't look pretty but at least it wasn't bleeding anymore. Not bleeding was good. Or at least he thought it was good. Without any knowledge of the creature's biological makeup, needs and functions it was hard to know exactly what to do, and whether his actions were helping or hindering the process of healing. He supposed he had no choice but to play it by ear and hope for the best..  
He reached for the gauze first, gently laying it over the gash so as not to tear open the fragile scab, then began the process of wrapping it around, gently holding the little green creature's head up to slip the gauze under, then bring it back over. Under, over, under, over. His movements became precise and methodical as he set to work bandaging wounds and wiping away excess blood. The little trash can on the floor near his desk became fuller and fuller with blue-stained gauze patches, cotton swabs and tissues as he did his work, and it was nearly filled by the time he slumped back in his computer chair with a loud sigh. He'd managed to get the alien into decent shape, thick bandages of gauze wrapped tightly around every cut or scrape he could find. Tiredly, he glanced up at the sleeping alien through his thick glasses. It seemed to be stable now, breath coming steady and even, the trembling having subsided. Dib then looked down at his hands. Covered in blue.  
He sighed again, feeling as if all his energy had been drained. With the rush of adrenaline having taken its course, it was all he could do to drag himself to the bathroom again, put away the first aid supplies that were left and get himself cleaned up.  
He was asleep almost as soon as he made it back to his chair.


	2. Rainy Morning

Dib awoke with a start, sitting bolt upright. What time was it? His eyes darted to the digital clock on his desk; 1:04, his dad was probably back by now but he usually went straight to his room to sleep unless there was a problem.. Briefly, Dib wondered if he'd only fallen asleep at his computer and it had all been a dream.

But a nagging pain on the shell of his ear told him otherwise. Feeling goosebumps, Dib whirled around in the chair to face his bed. And there it was, right where he'd left it. Dib smiled a bit, not bothering to surpress a little shiver. Every time he looked at the alien was like he was seeing it for the first time, and it never ceased to be amazing. He doubted it ever would.

He braced his hands on the armrests of the chair, pushing himself up slowly and crossing the room to sit down by the bed. His head was about level with the top of it, which gave him a great view of the creature. It didn't seem to have moved at all, but its little chest continued to rise and fall quite steadily, which reassured Dib that his guest was still stable. He was getting a little worried though- two hours was a long time to be unconscious.. Gently he lifted his hand to rest on the alien's head, rubbing over the bandages there with one thumb.

It must have endured some intense head trauma to get a wound that size.. What if it never woke up? It hurt to think about that possibility but if there was anything Dib was accustomed to exploring, it was possibilities, irregardless of whether they were pleasant or not.

Feeling a bit glum, Dib rested his head on the mattress near the alien's head and sighed, closing his eyes for a while. However when he opened them again he noticed something. There was a.. A thing wedged under the alien's back, pressed into the folds of his jacket, which it was still lying on. Frowning a bit, he carefully reached under the sleeping creature to touch the smooth, rounded metal surface. It was mechanical, clearly, but as to its purpose, Dib wasn't sure. And it was kind of hard to see, pressed into the bed.

Curious now, Dib straightened up onto his knees and carefully slipped his hands beneath the tiny creature's limp form, rolling it over to lie on its belly instead. This seemed like a much more natural position for it anyhow, without that device on its back getting in the way.

".. What /is/ that thing..?" He muttered, resting his chin on the bed to get a better look. It was a small half-sphere pod made of a light grey metal that seemed to coruscate in the dim light. It harboured three pink ports, one primary and two secondary. Dib assumed they could be opened, but as to what was inside was very much a mystery- one he didn't want to pry into (literally) just yet. Looking closer, practically pressing his face into the bedsheets, Dib noted that it seemed to be attatched to the alien's back via two small tubes, one of which seemed to be protruding further than the other.

"Straight into the spine.. Must be some sort of nervous system connection." He couldn't help his grin- unable to contain his excitement he scrabbled over to his desk, digging around for a pencil and a few stray sheets of paper to scrawl everything he knew while the information was still fresh. He spoke aloud to himself as he wrote.

"June 23d, 2083. First contact with alien life! Subject.. Rescued from a crashlanded ship. Was injured and incapacitated at site, has since received medical attention from myself, Dib Membrane." Dib felt a surge of pride at being able to claim this.

"It appears to be very small and petite, slender but solidly built. I would estimate it to be a little over.. Two feet tall." He paused to recall what he could of the crash.

"The ship it was in appeared to be engineered for such a small person in mind, as I had to nearly double over to fit inside.. Must be a general species trait." He looked over to the alien again, studying it for a moment or two.

"Subject has light green skin, though nearly white right now due to blood loss. Will conduct a more reliable observation when the subject has managed to recover a bit. Subject's blood is a deep blue-green, seems to have almost the same consistency as human blood by comparison. Perhaps a bit thinner. Subject has.. Large eyes, the colour of which I've yet to determine.." Dib paused here, swallowing as he cast the alien a sidelong glance. It didn't take long for his curiosity to get the better of him and he reached over, very gently placing his thumb on one of the creature's eyelids, lifting it just a bit. His gut did a little leap as he gently closed it again and hunched back over his writing, scratching out his previous sentence.

"Limpid red, almost pink. No visible whites, simply solid colour and very glossy. It has no ears or nose, however the subject does sport two black antennae directly atop the skull. They seem to have the capability to be ambulatory.." Feeling a little more comfortable with his study, he wasn't quite so hesitant to touch the creature this time. There was nothing dishonourable about it that he could see, and it wasn't conscious anyway so why not?

Carefully he ran two of his fingers along the length of one of the antennae, taking note of the little notched hole near the base.

"Antennae are smooth and non-pliable, and seem to have a small hole near the base where they meet the head. Perhaps a substitute organ in place of ears? They are mostly straight, with the exception of a small flip at the end of the appendage." Dib stopped here when he re-read over his notes and realized he was reading the same sentence over and over again. Dib stopped here when he re-read over his notes and realized he was reading the same sentence over and over again. A glance at the clock told him he ought to have been asleep by now. Almost two o'clock.

Slowly Dib got up, wincing at the pain in his legs from sitting in that position for so long, tossing his notes onto the desk before pulling the chair over next to the bed and plopping down.

"Alright.. Just gonna get a little sleep.. Be right here if you need anything." He mumbled offhandedly, even though it was obvious the alien couldn't hear him.. And even if it did, it was unlikely that it would understand.

Leaning back in the chair, he let his long legs stretch out on the floor in front of him and fell asleep to the sound of the house's generator humming and the faint breath of the extraterrestrial visitor.

Dib awoke the next morning to a sharp hunger roiling in his gut and the hushed patter of rain on his window. Eyes still closed, he reached up to brush his hair out of his face and rub his eyes, realizing he'd forgotten to take his glasses off. Oh well. He hadn't been sleeping in his bed anyway.

He stretched stiffly, yawning without covering his mouth and looked over to his bed. It seemed almost second nature to immediately check up on the extraterrestrial, but as he did, his heart sank. Still breathing, but still unresponsive, and it didn't appear to have moved at all. He began thinking about the possibility of harbouring a comatose alien again, and was highly disheartened. To be so very close yet still stuck so very far away, and for who knows how long. Maybe until it died, or adversely, until he did.

Dib hung his head, letting his hair fall into his face again and not bothering to brush it back this time. He didn't know how to take care of the creature, especially not without being able to gauge its reactions to things. What did it eat? What did it drink? Did it have any special needs?

Dib's mind went in circles as he realized that there was very little he could actually do. Pulling the creature from the broken cockpit and bandaging its wounds was about all he could manage. Feeling helpless and more than a little discouraged, he slowly got up and trudged down to the kitchen for a cup of coffee and maybe something to eat since it felt as if his stomach was on the verge of digesting itself. A quick glance at the kitchen clock let him know that Gaz was probably still asleep. He wasn't sure where his dad was, maybe in the basement laboratory.

He didn't mind being alone though, especially right now- he could use a bit of quiet to let his turbulent thoughts settle. The rain continued to hammer down on the house outside as Dib made himself some coffee and scarfed down two or three pieces of cold pizza from the fridge.. Careful to leave some for Gaz as well, lest she smack him around with the pizza box.

On the way back up to his room he caught sight of his reflection in a window and, despite himself, almost laughed at how ragged he looked. Certainly close to as bad as he felt. With his bandaged hands, elbows and knees, scabbed ear, torn shirt and messed up hair, he looked like a war refugee.

Dib then re-entered his room, sullenly plodding over toward the computer chair which was still beside his occupied bed. However a sudden low hissing sound stopped him dead in his tracks. It took him less than a moment to locate the source of the noise and he immediately dropped his coffee mug, which fell with a dull thud onto the grey carpet, its contents spilling everywhere. Dib flinched as the hot drink splashed his ankles but it was merely an instinctual reaction.

The alien, awake and alert, was of much more importance.

It was still lying on its belly, though its tiny hands were braced against the bed at about chest level, as if it had been trying to get up but hadn't quite made it. Eyes open but narrowed with distrust, antennae raised slightly so they jutted out directly backward, it was most definitely awake and alert. And hissing.

Dib, however, was in a state of rapture. His alien-.. Well, /the/ alien, was alright! But clearly feeling threatened, so Dib very carefully shut the door, making a point of keeping his movements slow so as not to startle it. Very carefully he crossed the room to his desk, kneeling down on the floor beside it whilst his guest continued to watch him with narrowed, glossy red eyes.

It had gone silent, which reassured Dib that he was doing something right- or at least better. He wanted nothing more than to make sure the creature felt as comfortable as possible, and assist it in any way he could. But he could do neither until the first barrier was broken. Pulse quickening with excitement, he cleared his throat.

"Hello.." His voice sounded thick, uncertain. The creature's antennae twitched as if it were listening, only to flatten back again. There was a pause, and Dib was about to try again before suddenly,

"N'k'kt ski'nghrich t'vol t'tatoi." Dib jumped a bit as the creature spoke. Its voice was high pitched but decidedly not a human's idea of feminine, the tone harsh and guttural. Unlike humans, who spoke mainly with their mouth, their teeth and tongue, much of the alien's words seemed to come from the back of the mouth, the throat, as if it were throwing its voice backward.

Dib felt a wave of goosebumps, enthralled by the strange language. He'd never heard anything like it, and it sounded even better coming from the creature than its ship's computer. So much more organic and warm.

"T'tatoi!" The alien repeated the last word forcefully when Dib didn't answer. Dib straightened up a bit, biting his lips for a moment. The creature's gaze followed his every movement.

"I-.. I don't know what you're trying to say.. But um.. Y-you're safe here. I'm not going to hurt you, I.. I want to help." He hoped that his gentle tone of voice would have the same meaning to the alien as it did to him, and was gratified to see it relax a bit, glancing off to the side and then back to him sharply. Its antennae lowered, resting in the more relaxed position Dib had observed while it was unconscious. He took this as a good sign, and slowly stood up, hands up near waist level and open to assure his guest that he wasn't going to attack it with anything. This seemed to be an acceptable course of action and garnered no ill reaction.

So Dib decided to test how far he could push these boundaries. Carefully he crossed the room in a diagonal path toward the creature on his bed, ready to stop and retreat at any time should the need arise. But to Dib's surprise and excitement, the need did not arise. The alien didn't hiss or growl or struggle, or make any sort of movements that suggested resistance to Dib's decision. It merely watched him with glassy eyes as he slipped into the chair beside the bed, sitting quietly.

Dib didn't mind the silence, merely relishing the fact that they were getting along.. Or rather, the alien hadn't tried to laser him or anything yet at least, which he took as a positive omen.

Dib's pulse quickened as he dared to make yet another move toward communication. A language barrier didn't have to mean all forms of communicating were eliminated, and he wanted to see how far he could get using tactics that had, on planet Earth, proved to be universal. Gently he motioned to himself, drawing in his breath a bit as the alien's gaze flicked sharply up to follow the movement.

"Dib.." He stated as clearly as possible, pausing before trying a second time. "Dib."

At first there was no response, the alien narrowing its eyes again, antennae quirking feebly. And then to Dib's great pleasure, the alien lifted a tiny hand to point at him.

".. Dib...?" It asked quietly, voice broken and raspy now that it wasn't shouting. Dib nodded, grinning from ear to ear in excitement- the alien said his name! It had also asked a question in the same manner as a human, which was highly encouraging. If they shared a similar manner of conversating, it would be all the more easy to figure out a middle ground of communication.

"Y-yeah, Dib. That's my name." He assured, softly- now that the initial fear and distrust had been leveled, the alien was beginning to look a lot less alert, eyelids drooping as if it were about to fall asleep again. Dib was surprised when it slowly lifted its little three fingered hand to gesture to itself.

".. Zim..." Its weak little voice was barely audible over the sound of the rain outside, but to Dib, it couldn't have been any clearer. He smiled again, uninhibited and genuine; the alien, Zim, seemed to understand now that Dib was not an enemy, and didn't draw back or hiss when he placed a hand on the bed near its own. It merely stared, but after a moment or so, it closed the gap of its own volition. Slowly its little hand slid over the bed sheet fabric, too weak to even lift its arm this time, to rest upon two of Dib's fingers. Zim's ruby gaze flitted up to meet Dib's, and then back down to their hands before closing its eyes. Dib smiled crookedly and held the little person's hand until he was sure it was asleep; it hurt to break the friendly physical contact, but he had work to do.

"Subject's name: Zim." The words looked beautiful on paper, and he stared at them for a while as he sat in his chair with his notes splayed out on a large book in his lap. When he was finished writing notes, he moved over to stow them safely in the top drawer of his desk; however in his general excitement, he was careless and tripped over his fallen coffee mug.

He managed to catch himself on the edge of the desk, but accidentally knocked something onto the floor with a loud clatter in the process. He winced, looking over his shoulder at the creature on his bed. Zim groaned and stirred but didn't appear to wake up so Dib turned back to see what had fallen.

It was a wavelength detector which he could use to pick up frequencies emitted by machinery. It actually belonged to his father, but Professor Membrane never used it, so he'd taken to occasionally borrowing the device when he went stargazing, hoping to catch the errant trace of alien technology. The fall had accidentally jarred it into life, and it was currently going haywire.

The readings it was receiving were unlike any other Dib had seen, a frequency that surpassed that of human technology, even the sort that was supposed to be long distance such as an Internet connection. This frequency reached much, much further and much, much more strongly than anything humans had created. Fascinated, Dib took the device and brought it closer to the alien. The vaguely egg-shaped metal thing on its back seemed to be the source of the strange frequency; it was broadcasting somewhere. Synched up to something off-planet via a very strong technical link. And that was when Dib realized something incredible. Something that made his skin prickle.

By copying that same frequency on a strong output system- perhaps his old satellite com detector in reverse- he could possibly hail others of Zim's kind.. Which was what Dib knew he needed to do, even if there was a possibility that they may not be friendly.

But they would know better than anyone how to help, and that's what mattered most right now- getting Zim the medical attention he needed. All it would take to make this so far science fiction encounter a reality would be to hardwire the frequency detector to his satellite, and reverse the input to output. Simple enough. If he could manage to broadcast even half as far, or even a quarter as far as the creature's machinery was broadcasting at this very moment, he had no doubt that he'd end up finding /someone/.

Even if they couldn't communicate verbally, simply the presence of a radio wave reaching out from the normally silent planet on this alien's technology's frequency would be enough to draw a bit of attention.. Or so he hoped. Despite the fact that it had woken up and spoken to him, Zim didn't appear to be in very good shape. It was weak and clearly afraid, depending on him for help that Dib knew would come from no one else.

He leaned against the bed lightly, scratching the itchy grass cuts on his leg with one foot as he mused on Zim's condition. The wounds were beginning to heal, but the process was too slow for his comfort and they were terribly ugly, despite Dib's best efforts to keep them clean and covered. And that wasn't even regarding the other more serious aspects of open wounds.

The fact remained that Dib just wasn't sure if Zim was susceptible to any Earth bacteria; for all he knew, Zim could be contracting any manner of infection at the very moment.. But he was leery of disinfectant. The last thing he wanted to do was make an uneducated guess and end up even worse off.

Which meant he needed to get started on his satellite, ASAP.


End file.
